A Short History of Roller Coasters
Today, they are high-tech marvels rising more than one hundred
feet in the air with tubular steel tracks, loops, corkscrews and
boomerangs. Their riders are hurled through space at 60 miles
per hour -- while sitting, standing or suspended from an overhead
track.
Their roots are still with us today -- majestic wooden labyrinths
with steep rises and swooping plunges and superstructures that
look like delicately balanced matchsticks. Steel and wooden roller
coasters may look different, but there is much they have in common.
All exist to exhilarate and terrify. The exhilaration began with
Russian Mountains, in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were ice
slides built near Russian towns, some as high 70 feet in the air.
The track was ice and the sleds was ice, with straw stuffed in
chiseled hollows to serve as seats. The ride -- and the sleds
-- became more elaborate as Russian royalty adopted the idea.
The first wheeled roller coaster was invented in Russia too, built
in 1784 in St. Petersburg. The rides then made their way to Paris,
where a wheeled coaster attraction was opened in 1804. But there
were problems. The wheels often fell off and the cars did not
always stop at the end of the track.
It was in Paris where the phrase roller coaster originated. Early
rides used tracks made of rollers and sleds with runners -- thus
the art of roller coasting. The name stuck after runners were
replaced with wheels.
Early coaster rides came in two parts. Riders rolled down one
hill to the bottom and then walked up a second hill to get enough
height for the return trip. The coasters were dragged uphill by
attendants.
The first ride resembling modern roller coasters opened in Paris
in 1817. Called Promenades Aeriennes, or Aerial Walks, it had
two separate, continuous tracks. Its cars were locked onto the
track and reached speeds of 40 mph. The speed gave the coasters
enough momentum to complete a circular track and return to the
starting point.
America s first coasters were a bit tamer. The first roller coaster
ride in America was a gravity-powered mine train used to haul
coal through the mountains of Pennsylvania. It was called the
Mauch Chunk Railway, and after the mine shut down, the railway
became a full-time attraction. Hundreds of people paid a nickel
each for the six-mile-per-hour trip downhill. Mules pulled the
cars uphill and shared the ride down with passengers.
The first specially built roller coaster in America was the Gravity
Pleasure Switchback Railway built by La Marcus Adna Thompson in
1884 at Coney Island. The ride was a series of leisurely wooden
waves and passengers paid a nickel each to sit sideways in cars
that reached a top speed of six miles-per-hour. Thompson recovered
his $1,600 investment in three weeks, and his success made for
roller coaster mania in the United States.
Within a few years, Americans re-invented a circular track for
coasters. Another American, Phillip Hinckle, invented a steam-powered
chain lift to tug coasters to new heights -- and new downhill
speeds. As inventors worked to make coasters better and faster,
someone got the idea that it would be fun to turn riders upside
down. The first loop was built in Paris in 1846 and called the
Centrifugal Railway. The ride was tested with sandbags, monkeys,
flowers, eggs and glasses of water before humans were allowed
on board.
Similar rides appeared in America in the early 1900s -- but the
strain and speed necessary to get cars through the loop proved
too much for passengers and loops disappeared until the 1970s.
The 1920s were the golden age of roller coasters. Large, wooden
figure-eight tracks were popular and newly-invented safety devices
allowed coasters to go faster and more furiously. By 1929, there
were more than 1,500 roller coasters in the world.
It was in 1927 that the benchmark for roller coasters was built.
Called The Cyclone, and built at Coney Island, it featured an
85-foot plunge and incredible 60-degree angles. Today, the Cyclone
is still an industry standard.
Roller coasters suffered along with everything else during the
Great Depression. Amusement park attendance was down and owners
could not afford to keep coasters in good repair. Rides were abandoned
or torn down. By 1960, there were fewer than 200 coasters in the
United States.
Then a man named Walt Disney decided to build a theme part in
California. With Disneyland came a revival of amusement parks
-- and, later, roller coasters.
The first tubular steel-tracked coaster was Disney's Matterhorn
Bobsled Ride, built in 1959. Steel rides were quieter -- but more
importantly, they allowed designers to build twists, turns and
other thrills not possible with wood coasters.
Roller coaster fans mark the advent of a corkscrew-shaped ride
in 1975 and a perfected, tear-drop-shaped loop in 1976 with the
same passion as historians mark the Renaissance.
As theme park attendance rose, wooden coasters became popular
again, too. These grand visions of the past reached higher into
the sky at the same time their metal descendants torqued and twisted
riders through weirder and faster paths.
Today, the roller coaster industry belongs to engineers and computers.
There is talk of rides that will exceed 100 miles-per-hour. The
only limit will be what physics -- and the human body -- will
allow.
The Who, What, Where and Weird
Hey you! Looking for some deeper meaning in all of this roller
coaster stuff! Want some unusual angles? Here are some ideas!
Why do people do this to themselves? Think about it. You get strapped
into a metal bucket and hurled around a track at incredible speeds.
You go up. You go down. You get whipped around. Then you get back
on and do it again. Why? Because you need to. Let's face it. Life
can be dull. Roller coasters change that for a couple of minutes.
They let you push your personal edge. But don't take our word
for it. Talk to some of these people:
1.Dr. Roller Coaster: We didn't make this name up. He comes with
it. The man is a psychiatrist who can tell you why some people
are driven to get on roller coasters. He, himself, is one of them.
His real name is Glenn Wilson. You can reach him at the Institute
of Psychiatry in London, England. His telephone number is 44/1717035411.
2.Marie L. Miller: You will want to call this woman. She is the
oldest member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts -- we'll let
her tell you just how old. She also is a former vaudeville star.
Marie has been on hundreds of roller coasters. She lives in Washington,
NJ, and you can contact her at (908) 689-2992.
3.Dr. Robert Cartmell: Dr. Cartmell has written a book on roller
coasters called The Incredible Scream Machine. He must know a
lot about roller coasters, because his book is pretty thick. He
is a professor at the State University of New York at Albany,
and his phone number is (518) 489-7647.
Fans and the things they do.
Imagine people so dedicated to roller coasters that they work
them into major life events. Picture such things as bridal veils
flapping in the wind. These people can help:
1.The Rev. Cliff Herring: Want to get married on a roller coaster?
Rev. Herring is your guy. He has performed many coaster weddings
and can tell you how the bride is able to hold on to her flowers
and other cool stuff. He lives in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania and
his telephone number is (610) 266-1169.
2.Matt and Betsy Crowther: This happy couple got married on a
roller coaster, April 1990, in Georgia. They're still happy. You
can reach them at (404) 588-9015.
Who builds these things anyway?
Roller coasters ain't cheap. Modern coasters can take two- to
three-years to design and can cost millions to build. Recent designs
have topped the $8 million mark. The design process has gone from
trial and error to high-tech computer imagery. Here is a list
of roller coaster manufacturers and suppliers:
1. Arrow Dynamics, Inc., Clearfield, UT, USA (801) 825-1611 Ron
Toomer, Consultant Director
2. Baynum Painting, Inc., Covington, KY, USA (606) 491-9800 Chris
Baynum, President
3. Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Monthey, Switzerland
41-257-21580 Walter Bolliger, President
4. Custom Coasters International, Inc., West Chester, OH, USA
(513) 755-0626 Denise Dinn Larrick, Owner/President
5. F.A.B. Freizeit-Anlagen-Bau s.a.r.l., Luxembourg 352/471083
Rolf Dupmann, General Manager
6. FCC Construction, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA (619) 673-6390 David
A. Phillips, President
7. Great Coasters International, Santa Cruz, CA, USA (408) 464-9551
Mike Boodley, President
8. Intamin AG, Wollerau, Switzerland 41/17869111 R. Spieldiener,
President
9. Interpark s.r.l., Spilamberto, Italy 39/59785000 Giulio Demaria,
President
10. John F. Pierce Associates. Dallas, TX, USA (214) 871-2872
John Pierce, President
11. Mack GmbH & Co. Waldkirch, Germany 49/768120000 Franz
Mack, Owner
12. Maurer Sohne. Manchen, Germany 49/89323940 Hans Beutler, Managing
Director
13. Maxifoto NL B.V. Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands 31/416778536
Peter C. Meininger, Director
14. Miler Coaster Co., Inc. Portland, OR (503) 256-3019 Fred Miler,
President
15. Molina & Son/ Machine & Metal Works, Inc. Miami, FL,USA
(305) 634-2735 Manuel Diaz, President
16. Morgan Manufacturing. LaSelva Beach, CA, USA (408) 724-8686
Dana Morgan, President (Dana's father, Edgar
Morgan from Scotts Valley, CA, USA co-designed the first coaster
with tubular steel tracks for Disneyland.)
17. O.D. Hopkins Associates, Inc., Contoocook, NH, USA (603) 746-4131
Jerry Pendleton, President
18. Pax-Park Ltd., Moscow, Russia 7/0954904864 Vladimir Gnezdilov,
President
19. Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc., Lansdale, PA, USA (215)
362-4700 Tom Rebbie, President
20. Roller Coaster Corp. of America, Atlanta, GA (770) 448-7931
Michael Black, President
21. Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corp., Osaka, Japan 81/62014052 Isao
Ohono, President
22. S&MC s.r.I./SMC Structures and Machines 39/522514476 Construction
s.r.I., Reggio Emilia, Italy; Andrea Mazzeranghi, Co-owner/Managing
Director
23.Togo International, Inc., Middletown, OH, USA (513) 772-8408
Tom Yamada, President
24. Vekoma International B.V., The Netherlands 31/47429222 Roger
P.E.G. Houben, Vice President of Marketing and Sales
25. Zamperla, Inc., Parsippany, NJ, USA (201) 334-8133 Chris Sisco,
Marketing Marketing Psssst! Wanna buy a coaster?
There is a used-roller coaster market out there. Imagine buying
a coaster, taking it apart, moving it and putting it back up again.
It happens regularly. Parks move coasters because it can be cheaper
than building a new one and they get a proven design. Plus, the
American Coaster Enthusiasts organization devotes a lot of time
and energy towards the effort of preserving old coasters so that
they may be enjoyed by future generations. Here are a few examples:
1.Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, PA, USA (717) 672-2572
Dick Knoebel, President This park was the first modern-day park
to move a wooden roller coaster. It bought a coaster in Texas
and moved it to Pennsylvania. 2.Premier Parks, Oklahoma City,
OK, USA (405) 478-2412 Gary Story, Chief Operating Officer One
Premier Park moved a roller coaster from Missouri to Oklahoma
and another moved a coaster from Massachusetts to Maryland. 3.The
Great Escape, Lake George, NY, USA (518) 792-3500 Charles R. Wood,
CEO This park moved a coaster from Canada to the United States.
4.Tom Halterman, Philadelphia, PA, USA (215) 665-0366 Tom is ACE's
preservation director and can talk about moving
Roller Coasters and Safety
They raise you more than 100 feet in the air and send you shrieking
down a hill at 50 mph -- yet their wood seems so delicate and
their metal so strangely twisted. And as you clack- clack-clack
your way to the top of the first hill and feel the pause before
the downward rush begins, a thought may run through your mind:
So are roller coasters safe?
The Numbers Show Safety Statistics show that roller coasters are
quite safe. And behind the statistics are built-in safety features
and armies of specially-trained technicians who spend their days
making sure coasters stay safe.
Park officials make safety a top priority -- both because it is
the right thing to do and because a park cannot afford an accident.
"We cannot run and hide if we have an accident", said
Andy Quinn, a spokesman for Kennywood Park, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania,
USA. "We want peace of mind, our patrons want peace of mind
and our insurance company wants peace of mind." Estimates
from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and surveys conducted
for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
show that more than 270 million visits are made to permanent U.S.
parks and attractions each year. Yet less than .00002 percent
of all visitors are injured as a result of being on amusement
park rides -- coasters included.
The CPSC estimates there are between 3,000 to 3,500 accidents
each year involving permanent amusement rides. Of those, just
2 percent are serious enough to require overnight hospitalization.
There are an average three fatalities per-year related to amusement
park rides -- or one fatality in every 90 million park visits.
But CPSC and other studies show that only a small portion of ride-related
injuries are caused by design, operation or maintenance problems.
Most are the result of horseplay, patron negligence or situations
unrelated to the operation or condition of the ride.
Maintenance is Key to Keeping Coasters Safe
Parks divide their safety inspection programs into daily, weekly,
monthly and yearly activities. They follow detailed manufacturer
guidelines for inspection and safety -- and many parks use outside
specialty companies to periodically re-inspect coasters and the
work of full-time park employees.
Beyond park inspection programs, more than 85 percent of all permanent
parks are subject to additional government codes and inspection
requirements.
At most parks, technicians begin inspecting rides long before
those who will enjoy them are awake. The daily safety inspection
of roller coasters can take longer than four hours.
"We inspect every length of track, every car and every lap
bar", said Dan West, Rides Maintenance Manager for Paramount
s Kings Dominion Park, in Doswell, VA, USA. "Each (maintenance)
worker has the right to shut down a ride. They will not let that
ride operate if it is not safe." Workers walk the tracks
twice -- once to check the left side and once to check the right
side. They look for loose bolts and track spikes, cracked wood
and any other problem that may have occurred during the night.
They inspect the lift chain and braking mechanisms and they inspect
the cars for loose bolts, cracks or safety devices that need attention.
Each day, the coaster is first sent around the track empty, then
with technicians aboard. Technicians listen for changes in sounds
the coaster makes -- sounds that might signal a loose bolt or
track spike.
Monthly inspections are a more detailed look at the coaster s
machinery and track. And yearly inspections involve taking every
coaster car apart and rebuilding it, replacing wood that has shown
wear and replacing track that may show wear.
At least once per year, most parks X-ray their track or use magnetic
scanners to check for metal stress or welds that need attention.
The daily inspection of tubular steel metal coasters is slightly
different from that for wooden coasters. Technicians cannot walk
the entire track. Instead, they use high-power binoculars to check
joints and key metal parts that would otherwise be out of reach.
Technicians know just how tight key bolt assemblies are, and use
binoculars to literally count the number of threads left exposed
after the bolt has been tightened. If the number of exposed threads
changes, technicians know the bolts must be tightened.
Design Safety
A wooden roller coaster is built using many wood boards of various
sizes bolted together to form a beam that rests on top of supports.
It is that beam that supports the metal track that coasters glide
along -- and some estimates show that the structures of wooden
coasters are overbuilt by at least 25 percent.
There are three wheels on every roller coaster -- running wheels,
or the main wheels on which the train runs, friction wheels, which
help control side-to-side motion of the roller coaster, and upstop
wheels, which are underneath the track and make it impossible
for the coaster to leave the track -- even if inverted.
As the roller coaster is pulled up its first hill by the lift
chain, there are safety devices that click into a set of metal
dogs (or stairs) on either side of the chain to prevent the coaster
from rolling backward should the chain stop.
And after the coaster has completed its ride and is headed into
the station, a series of brakes, operated by compressed air and
complete with backups, slows the coaster and brings it to a stop
so that riders can get off.
Year of the Roller Coaster
January 11, 1996-- The International Association of Amusement
Parks and Attractions, along with the American Coaster Enthusiasts,
has named 1996 as the International Year of the Roller Coaster.
The year will be filled with tributes to roller coasters across
the world and other events to honor what is the ultimate ride
of exhilaration.
Roller coasters have been with us since the 15th century and they
still represent our best attempt at the ultimate thrill, said
IAAPA president Geoffrey Thompson. The rest of life is so complicated.
But roller coasters are simple. They are pure fun. They are part
of our culture -- and it s time we recognize them.
Technology and a renewed interest in leisure and recreation have
meant a resurgence for roller coasters. The number of coasters
worldwide peaked in the early 1900s, with about 1,500, and dropped
to just a few hundred during the 1960s.
Now, all we have to do is go to any theme park, or amusement park
and we can hear the roar of coasters and the screams of riders,
said Thompson. Millions of people now enjoy the thrill of roller
coasters, and new wood and steel coasters are under construction
everywhere.
Currently, there are an estimated 500 coasters worldwide with
more than 50 new projects underway in 1996.
Roller coasters can be traced to 15th and16th century Russia,
where people built ice slides and used hollowed-out blocks of
ice as the first coaster cars. The first commercial roller coasters
appeared in France during the early 1800s and the first specially-built
U.S. coaster was constructed in 1884.
There are two kinds of roller coasters -- those with tubular metal
tracks that take riders through high-speed loops, corkscrews and
boomerangs, and wooden coasters that tower over parks and feature
swooping plunges and matchstick-like construction.
We are in the best of times for roller coasters, said Thompson.
Engineers working with computers allow us to create the safest,
wildest rides ever. The only limits are what people are willing
to ride. And people are willing to do some pretty intense things.
Restoration efforts are underway to preserve the world s great
wooden roller coasters and advances in metal roller coasters allow
riders to do everything from stand or be suspended as they ride.
In 1996, the oldest wooden roller coaster, located at Lakemont
Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania, will be restored as the newest
generation of steel roller coasters debuts at Busch Gardens Tampa
Bay, in Florida.
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
is the largest international trade association for permanently-situated
amusement facilities worldwide. IAAPA represents more than 4,000
facility, manufacturer and individual members in more than 72
countries, including most major amusement parks and attractions
in the United States.
The American Coaster Enthusiasts is an all volunteer, not-for-profit
organization dedicated to the preservation, appreciation and enjoyment
of the roller coaster. Founded in 1978, the organization has approximately
5,000 members worldwide.